The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Some enterprises use computers to provide an online social network that enables real-time collaboration for their users. An online social network is a digitized representation of human interaction transmitted for a wider audience. Whereas the audience for a conventional conversation between two people may be limited to those in close audible proximity between those two people, a conversation that takes place on an online social network is not bound by such physical constraints. Any other person or user who is interested in following an online conversation may do so. An online social network sends information proactively via a real-time news stream, or network feed. Users can subscribe to follow individuals and/or groups to receive broadcast updates about various events and activities. Users can also post messages on the profiles of other members of the online social network to collaborate on various events and activities. In some implementations, an online social network may allow a user to follow data objects in the form of records such as cases, accounts, or opportunities, in addition to following individual users and groups of users. One example of such an online social network is Chatter®, provided by Salesforce.com Inc. of San Francisco, Calif. Such an online social network can be implemented in various settings, including enterprises such as business organizations or groups within such an organization. For instance, Chatter® can be used by employee users of a business organization to communicate and collaborate with each other for various purposes. Chatter® provides real-time feeds and updates on people, groups, documents, files, and other business objects such as reports and dashboards. It should be appreciated, however, that the invention can be implemented in any kind of online social network. Aspects of the invention may be implemented in connection with advertising, marketing, matchmaking, on-line dating, e-learning, e-commerce, and so forth. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide techniques that enable a database system providing an online social network to improve the performance, efficiency, and the ease of use for collaboration.